Meet May (class of 2004) and Maya (class of 2007), mother and daughter who are both dental students at Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. May is completing her studies this spring and is a new AAWD member. She will be pursuing a private practice in the Fort Lauderdale area, while Maya is about to finish her first year of dental school.
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May has taken an interesting pathway to end up in South Florida. She originally studied dentistry in Syria, her native land, but never practiced there. Her next stop was Haiti, where she studied for two more years, this time in French, and then owned a large group practice. May was the general dentist, and there were others who practiced orthodontics, periodontics, and surgery. After 15 years in Haiti, the political unrest led May and her family to Florida. After two years, May decided to go back to school (again!) to earn her American dental degree, this time in English. While waiting for the new dental school to open at Nova Southeastern University, May studied for and passed both parts of the National Dental Board Examination.
Maya is the youngest of May's three daughters. The oldest is a physician and the second is a journalist, but Maya discovered that her career interest was dentistry. She fell in love with the profession during her college years when she visited her mom at NSU. Maya was May's dental assistant, and has never regretted her choice. Maya looks forward to practicing with her mom in a few years. What a nice twist on "the family business!"
